Tattoos On This Town
by allabouttonight12
Summary: It sure left its mark on us. We sure left our mark on it. We let the world know we were here. With everything we did. We laid a lot of memories down. Like tattoos on this town...


**Okay, so every time I hear this song I see a video in my head. I thought I'd finally just get it out so I could focus on Unplanned Interruptions. I like it, seriously trying something new here by doing the song one shot thing. Give me opinions please! I'd like to do a few more here soon but I want to improve them. Please and thank you! **

_"Hurry up Reba!" __Lori Anne__ screamed from the screen door to her bestfriend who was being slow as can be.  
"I'm coming! Don't get your panties all in a bunch!" Reba yelled back as she grabbed her purse. She took one last look in the mirror to check her hair and makeup.  
"If I have to come in there to get you I'm gonna wring your neck, you slow redhead!" Reba rolled her eyes as she headed down the hallway to the screen door. Lori Anne grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to the truck.  
"Geez Lori Anne." Reba said as she rubbed the spot she was grabbed at.  
"We're gonna be late to the race. Nothing ever happens around here, I'm not missing this." she said as she put the truck in reverse. Reba rolled her eyes.  
"I don't like them racing. It scares me."  
"It's not a bad thing Reba, it's all just for fun." Reba rolled her eyes and didn't respond. They didn't say another word until they were at the old dirt road that turned onto the paved county road. It still was considered a dirt road to everyone who lived there, it was covered in it. They got out of the truck and joined the little group standing around talking.  
"What'd we miss?" Lori Anne asked with a smile.  
"Nothing much, just getting the cars ready." a guy said as he pointed over to the two vehicles. Reba shook her head. "What, don't you like racing?"  
"Who, me?" She asked a little taken aback by the sudden confrontation.  
"Yeah you." he said with a grin. She just shrugged, not wanting to seem like not part of the group. "Well, I'm Terry." he said holding his hand out to her. She shook it with a little smile.  
"I'm Reba."  
"It's starting!" an over excited guy said, practically jumping. Lori Anne pulled Reba over to the front. Reba looked closely at the nicely taken care of old mustang that was being raced beside an old pickup.  
"That mustangs from that city boy. That Ford's that Texas kid. Not even racing our own today." an older kid said beside Reba. She looked over at the pickup again, wondering who it could be. She knew the mustang's owner, a cocky guy named Jeremy from New York.  
"Who's the other kid?" Reba mumbled to herself.  
"His names Brock, he just moved up here to take care of his grandmother across town." Terry said beside Reba suddenly, causing her to jump a little bit. "He's a close friend of mine, pretty cool dude." just then he came into view. He had blonde hair held back by a bandana, an old black T-shirt that looked more worn than anything, and an old pair of Levi's that fit him good. Reba's eyebrows went up when she saw him smile. His smile was breathtaking.  
"How longs he here for?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the handsome man.  
"All summer. Taking a break I guess." just then they got in their vehicles and turned them on. Brock looked over towards Reba for a split second and her heart stopped. His eyes were crystal blue. She'd never seen anything like them before.  
"Who you pulling for?" Lori Anne asked as she leaned towards Reba.  
"The pickup." she said simply. Just then they took off, leaving only dust and black marks in their trail._

**There's still black marks on that county road, **

**where we drag raced our pick-ups and mustangs  
And weathered all the sun and rain**__

When they made it back to the starting point, they were neck and neck. The pickup lost by a hair. Reba was disappointed by that.  
After the race, everybody headed down to the river to celebrate. 

_Reba was anxious to see Brock there. She kept her eye out for him but soon lost hope when everybody had been there for a little while with no sign of him. _

_She relaxed and accepted the beer Terry handed her. She felt someone tap her right shoulder, but when she looked no one was there._

"_Too slow." A smooth voice said to her left. When she looked her heart nearly stopped. It was Brock._

"_That was you?" she said stupidly. "I mean, of course it was you." she said trying to shake her shock away. He just smiled that heart stopping smile._

"_Yes it was me." He said with a laugh. "I saw you up at the race, you were watching pretty intently." Reba just blushed, only causing him to laugh again. "So you're a big racing fan?" _

"_Far from it, it scares her to death." Lori Anne chimed in as she threw an arm around Reba. _

"_It scares you? You seemed to like it a lot to me." He teased. Reba couldn't help but smile. _

_Just then Reba decided to excuse herself from Lori Anne, praying Brock would follow, which he did._

_After a few hours of laughing and getting to know each other, Reba decided to head home only to find Lori Anne already left._

"_I'll give you a ride Red." Brock said with a little smile. She agreed and they headed for his pickup from the race. As they walked towards the overpass, Reba stopped dead in her tracks. In white paint, the words 'Allie, will you marry me?' were sloppily written on the overpass, in plain sight. The only Allie in this town was Reba's older sister. The only person allowed to even call Alice, Allie was her boyfriend Craig. _

"_Everything alright Reba?" Brock asked a little concerned. Reba pointed._

"_That's my sister." _

**And to this day up on the overpass**

**Even under the new paint**

**You can still see,**

'**Allie, will you marry me?'**

_Weeks went by and Reba and Brock only grew closer. They spent every moment they could together. They weren't anymore than friends at this point; Reba was well aware Brock was going back to Texas in October. She didn't want to get attached and Brock was well aware of that. But that didn't stop them from letting an amazing friendship blossom from it. _

_Reba jumped in the passenger seat of Brock's old pickup one day before he sped away. She put her feet up on the dash, rolled her window down, and cracked up some George Jones before Brock could turn out of her driveway. He laughed at the smile spread across her face as she leaned her head back and sang along with George, eyes closed and oblivious to him sitting right beside her._

"_What're you laughing at Blondie?" she said as she nudged him. _

"_Just you Red." He said nudging her back. They laughed and sat in his truck nudging each other, just driving anywhere they could find a road in that little Oklahoma town. Neither of them had ever laughed like they did just doing a whole lot of nothing in his truck all over town. _

_They drove past Mr. Johnson's little store and waved. He ran after the truck like little old men do and Brock pulled over._

"_Are you two busy?" he asked them with a little smile. They exchanged a look before telling him no. "Want to do me a big favor?" he asked with a bigger smile spread across his face._

_Shortly after that, Brock was holding onto Reba's foot as she sat on the edge of the car window, holding out stickers to slap on the next mailbox as Brock drove by. _

_They were stickers to advertise for some benefit Mr. Johnson was hosting. Reba and Brock didn't care, they were having a good time doing drive-by mailbox slapping with the stickers. As soon as they covered every mail box in town, Reba didn't want to get down. So he drove around, letting Reba sing along with the radio at the top of her lungs hanging out his pickup trucks window. They didn't care what a single soul thought. Everyone in town saw them and couldn't forget the sight if they tried. It was a shocking sight._

_Brock took one turn a little too sharp without warning Reba and she fell out the window and tumbled down the little grass bank. Brock slammed on the breaks and jumped out of the truck, running down the bank to Reba's side. To his surprise, she was laughing. He shook his head with a laugh as he looked at the crazy laughing redhead with the bloody knees and elbows. _

**Take a ride, look around**

**There ain't no doubt**

**It sure left its mark on us**

**We sure left our mark on it**

**We let the world know we were here**

**With everything we did**

**We laid a lot of memories down**

**Like tattoos on this town**

_Another week passed and Brock picked Reba up to meet everyone down at the swimming hole. Terry and his brother Mike had a surprise for everyone. _

"_Hey Red." Brock said as Reba hopped into the truck. She smiled over at him._

"_Hey Blondie." She scooted a little closer to him but not close enough to mean anything. They both had feelings for each other that they would never admit. _

"_You need anything before we head to the river?" he asked looking over at her. _

"_I think I'm good. Should we pick up sodas or something?" she said looking back at him through her sunglasses. He reached over and took them off her. "Hey!"_

"_You look better with them off. Can't see your eyes when they're on." He said tossing them onto the dash. She tried to hide a little smile as he focused back on her question. _

"_So sodas?" _

"_Good idea. I'll pick up some beer too." Reba rolled her eyes._

"_Can't we have fun without drinking today?"_

"_We could, but why would we want too?" he said with a little wink. Reba just rolled her eyes before shaking her head. _

_When they got to the gas station, Reba grabbed two twelve pack sodas while Brock grabbed anther two packs. _

"_I thought you were gonna get beer." Reba stated. Brock just shrugged._

"_I changed my mind." Reba felt the corner of her mouth turn up at his words. He respected her._

"_Alright, let's go." She said as she hurried out of the checkout with her two cases. She was running as best she could with them to the truck, laughing the whole time. Brock was right on her heels._

"_You're not gonna win!" he yelled as she threw the packs in the bed of his truck. He threw his packs in beside hers before putting his arms on either side of her._

"_I think I just did." She said making a face._

"_I don't think so." He said looking at her. She was beautiful. Her baby blue eyes looking up at him looked so innocent and intriguing. He felt himself lean in a little bit and touched his lips to hers. She didn't object, to his surprise. After a minute of feeling the most amazing feeling of his life, he pulled back._

"_What was that?" she asked looking up at him, a little out of breath. Her heart was pounding in her chest faster than she'd ever known it too._

"_I don't know. But I think I liked it." he said cupping her face in his hands and kissing her a little deeper than before. Neither of them wanted it to end for anything. They were in their own little world of bliss._

"_Hey you two finally an item?" Mr. Johnson yelled over to them. They broke apart to look at him, realizing where they were._

"_What?" Brock yelled back in confusion._

"_Are you two an item?" they both shook their heads._

"_No, we're not." Reba tried to say with a serious tone but failed. She knew no matter what they said, she had feelings she couldn't ignore. She was having a hard time making herself believe it lately, let alone everyone else. Brock's thoughts mirrored hers exactly._

"_Denial. It'll happen here shortly since you two seem to think it hasn't happened yet." He said as he walked away. Brock looked back at Reba and pulled away from her. Without another word they both climbed into the truck and drove to the river._

"_What took you guys so long?" Lori Anne asked when Reba walked over to her with a soda for her. _

"_Long story." She said looking out at the water. She looked over and saw Brock talking to Terry and Mike. She could tell he wasn't about to bring what happened minutes ago up to his friends, so she wouldn't either. _

"_Try her out Brock, it's a hoot." Mike said handing him the rope. It was tied to a pretty high branch that hung over the water. _

"_Am I going to die?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow._

"_No, we've been trying it out all day." Terry said with a laugh. _

_Reba watched as Brock climbed onto a big rock holding a swinging rope. He took a deep breath and swung out over the water before letting go and flying into the air laughing before hitting the water. Reba couldn't help but laugh._

"_Wanna give it a try?" Lori Anne asked._

"_Actually, yeah." Reba said standing. Brock was about to go again. Reba had her bathing suit under her tank top and shorts that she was about to shed. As she slipped her tank top off, she glanced at Brock who was already swinging and watching her. He never let go. _

"_Brock!" Reba screamed as he came back around to hit a tree in reach of the rope before tumbling down the little area of grass before flopping into the water. Reba ran after him, scared to death he'd killed himself. She ran into the water, not caring that she still had her shorts and tennis shoes on. She finally made it over to a bloody and out of it Brock. _

"_Come on Brock, you've got to be alright." She said as she pulled him towards the shore. _

"_We've got him Reba." Terry and Mike said as they picked him up and set him on the shore, right in Reba's arms. She brushed the hair out of his eyes and started to look for the problem areas. His left __ribcage had a big bleeding gash that didn't look good._

"_Come on Brock, look at me." She said in a frustrated voice. Brock looked over at her as best as he could._

"_This is your fault." He said with a little smile._

"_My fault? How the hell is this my fault?" she said angrily._

"_You took your shirt off while I was swinging." She rolled her eyes._

"_Nice going Reba." Mike said nudging her._

"_I didn't ask him to look." She stated simply. _

"_Why wouldn't he? You're his girl." She just looked down at a smiling Brock with scrapes and dirt all over his face._

"_Whatever. I need help getting him to the truck."_

"_Where are you taking him?" Lori Anne asked as Reba stood._

"_The hospital, did you not see the gash in his ribs?" she asked pointing down at him._

"_I'll be fine, just give me a cup of water to rinse it off." He said trying to sit up. Reba pushed his shoulder back down to the ground with her foot._

"_You need stitches, end of story." _

**There's still a rope burn on the old branch, **

**That hangs over the river,**

**I still got the scar**

**From swinging out a little too far**

_After that Brock and Reba gave in to everyone's accusations and became a couple. They didn't have to change much; they had already been this close before. Only now they were open about it with themselves and everyone else._

"_Hey babe." Brock said with a smile as Reba jumped in his truck. _

"_Hey yourself." She said stealing a kiss. He cupped her face and kissed her again. This time it was deeper and heart stopping. _

"_Mmm, I could get use to this." He said against her lips._

"_Don't get too use to it cowboy." She said as she broke their lips apart with a smile. "We have places to be." She sat back in her seat before scooting into the middle and grabbing his hand. As they started driving, she rested her head on his shoulder and listened to the radio as they drove._

"_Where are we going? I thought we were going over to Mike's for a cook out." Reba asked as she looked out the window confused. _

"_We'll go later, it doesn't start for a few more hours." He said with a smile._

"_Then where are we going?" _

"_I want to show you something." _

_A few minutes later they pulled up on the county line and parked right beside the county line sign. Brock got out of the truck and Reba followed, a little confused._

"_Come here." He said holding his hand out to her. She reluctantly took it._

"_Where are we going?" she asked again. Brock shook his head with a laugh._

"_If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?" she rolled her eyes but didn't say anything._

_After a minute of walking on a little path that hadn't been touched in years it looked like, they came upon a little creek._

"_This is the big surprise?" she asked a little disappointed._

"_No, this leads us to the surprise." He said pointing to the left. They followed the little creek for a minute before they came upon a quiet, hidden little pond. Reba's jaw dropped._

"_Since when is this here? I know everything about this town." She said in disbelief. _

"_I come here every time I'm in Oklahoma. This is my little ground here." He sat by the water. After a second of thought, Reba joined him. That became 'Their' place from then on. _

_About a month and a half later, Reba and Brock took a step in their relationship that even surprised them. It was late one night up at their pond. Both of them were unprepared for everything. _

"_Reba? You up here?" Brock yelled as he made his way to the pond. Nobody could find Reba since early morning. He was starting to worry. "Reba?" he finally made it to the pond and saw her sitting there with her knees pulled to her chest, her chin resting on her knees._

"_Reba, why didn't you tell anyone you were coming up here? Or respond when I yelled for you?" he said relaxing a little bit, but as his worry went down, his temper went up a little._

"_Just go away." She said not moving. Brock stood beside her, looking down in confusion._

"_I'm not leaving without you Reba." He stated sternly. She closed her eyes tight._

"_Just leave me alone." She said in a shaking voice. Brock knelt down beside her and tried to pry her hand off her knees, but she refused._

"_Reba, what the hell's going on? Talk to me." He said as his temper rose. He was worried and confused and she wasn't helping to calm that._

"_Why don't you just go back to Texas and let me face my own problems by myself." she nearly yelled as she stood up. _

"_Why would I do that?" he asked confused. She never talked like this about him leaving._

"_Don't act like you don't know you're leaving in October. Don't you dare pretend like you're sticking around!" she said with tears thick in her voice as she walked away as fast as she could. He ran after her and grabbed her elbow to turn her around._

"_What did I do? Tell me, please. We both knew I was leaving before we started Reba. Don't be mad at me for something I have no control over." He angrily yelled back. She just stood with tears in her eyes for a long while. _

"_I think I'm pregnant."_

**There ain't a corner of this hallow ground, that we ain't laughed or cried on, it's where we loved,  
Lived and learned real life stuff  
It's everything we're made of**

_Brock nervously paced outside of the doctors office waiting for Reba to confirm their fears. As he pace he thought about how if she was, he would marry her and raise the child right alongside her. He wouldn't want it any other way. _

_As he turned to go back the exact same stretch he had just walked, the thought of marrying Reba burned holes in his mind. Were they ready for that? Did they both want this? Could they handle this? _

_Just then Reba came walking out of the office towards him. He met her halfway but stopped her before she could speak. He placed both his hands on her arms._

"_Reba, before you say a word I have something to say." She nodded for him to continue as he took a deep breath. "Reba, I love you. If you are pregnant, I want to help you raise this child. If you'll have me, I want to marry you, we can be a family." Her eyes went wide but he continued anyway. "Everybody's going to think I'm marrying you just because of the baby, but I wouldn't ask if I didn't mean it Reba. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." he finally took a breath after he got everything he needed to say out._

"_Are you finished?" she asked after a minute of quiet. He nodded. "First off, did you mean everything you just said?"_

"_Of course I did. I meant every single word." He said honestly. She studied his eyes for what seemed like ages to him. "Please say something." He pleaded._

"_False alarm." He looked at her confused._

"_What?"_

"_False alarm. I'm not pregnant." She said bracing herself for what his reaction would be._

"_You're not pregnant." She nodded as he let go of her arms and started pacing again, running his hand through his hair. Part of him was relieved that he wasn't going to be a father so young, but another part of him was finally waking up to reality. He didn't want anyone else to bear his children. "That doesn't change a thing." He said as he turned to face her. She looked so confused._

"_What does that mean?" he reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out the little ring box he had gotten a few days before. He got down on one knee and took her hand. _

"_This opened my eyes to a lot. I don't want to be with anyone else the rest of my life. I don't want anyone else to mother my kids than you. I only want to wake up to your face when I'm old." Her eyes were filled with tears as he paused. He didn't know what to expect, didn't know what she would say, didn't know if she even felt remotely the same. But he had to try. "Reba McKinney, I want you to be my wife, pregnant or not. Will you marry me?" she nodded without hesitation._

"_Yes, yes, a thousand times yes." He slipped the ring on her finger before he stood up and took her in his arms, burying his face in her neck._

**It sure left it's mark on us, we sure left our mark on it  
We let the world know we were here, with everything we did  
We laid a lot of memories down, like tattoos on this town  
Like tattoos on this town**

I shook my head as a million memories played through my mind. I got out of the car in town square and couldn't take my eyes off the place were Brock asked me to marry him. Two naïve kids who thought love was all you needed to get by. I closed my eyes and pushed those thoughts away again.

I walked down the street, feeling like I was 18 again and ready to take on the word single handedly. Those were simple times. God I miss those days when I didn't know there was life outside these county lines. I walked up to the little church I grew up in. I stopped and stared.

I could practically see me and Brock running out of the church arm in arm, dodging the rice that was falling from the sky. Me in my white dress, him in his suit. I felt like a cold outsider, watching a warm and loving scene. I turned around and walked away without blinking.

I never thought I could feel so cold and empty as I do right now. Everywhere I turn there's another memory full of happiness and love that never had a chance.

About a half hour later I ended up parked in front of the county line sign. Just staring at it. After building up the courage, I got out of the car and made my way down that old beat up forgotten path. I followed the nearly disappeared little stream all the way to the pond where my life changed.

It hadn't changed a bit. It still felt like it did almost 30 years ago now.

I sat down on the ground and let all the memories finally flood my mind without a fight.

I have no idea how much time I must have let pass. It was getting dark out, yet I had no intention of moving from my spot. Mama and daddy don't know I'm in town yet, so they won't worry.

"Reba?" I turn at my memory standing right behind me. I didn't speak, not sure if it was just in my mind or if it was real.

"It's getting dark, what're you doing up here?" he said with his hands in his front pockets. Just like he did when he was 21.

"What're you doing here?" I asked, ignoring his question.

"Just taking a trip down memory lane." He said with his eyes boring holes into mine.

"Isn't that a little cliché?" he cracked a smile as he rolled his eyes.

"You're one to talk Red." Now it's my turn to roll my eyes.

"What makes you say that about me? I'm not the one who belongs in a chick-flick here." He laughed as he came to sit beside me.

"I guess so." We sat in silence for a long time. We both knew we were reliving the same memories. It didn't need to be said. Just sitting beside each other brought them all flooding back.

And I'd never admit it, but it was killing me inside to know we let it all go…

**Everywhere, there we are**

**It hits me right, in my heart…**

"You were all stupid as stupid can get." Mama said as she sipped her tea. I rolled my eyes.

"They might have been but I wasn't." Lori Anne said defensively. I laughed.

"You? Hell, you were the ring leader!" mama said in disbelief. They bantered back and forth for a little while, just like old times.

Scooter, daddy's dog that never leaves my side when I'm in town rested his chin on my lap.

"Wanna go for a walk?" I asked as I scratched his head, leaning down to whisper. His ears perked up. I smiled as I stood, unnoticed by the group.

We snuck out the back door and down the long driveway. Scooter trotting right along by my side. It made me smile.

"Hey, wait up!" I turned around to see Brock chasing after us down the drive. I stopped as Scooter ran towards him, barking and jumping.

"I didn't think we were noticed." I said when he finally caught up. We started walking again.

"I did, just had to sneak away too." I shook my head with a little smile.

"You're good at that aren't you?" he rolled his eyes.

"Can't we be civil for one day?"

"And what fun would that be?" I teased.

"It'd mean a lot to me." He said seriously. Suddenly it wasn't a funny moment. I could feel the air around us changing.

"And why's that?" he just looked forward without a word. "Hello, anybody in there?" I asked irritated like. He let out a breath.

"Barbra Jean is moving to Arkansas. Without me." He said without looking at me. My eyebrows went up in shock.

"What?"

"We got a quick divorce. Papers are final Monday." I stopped walking, causing him to stop and finally look at me.

"How could you let this happen?" he let out a tired sigh.

"It's what she wants. We both do. We don't love each other like two married people should. We were just wasting each other's time." I ran a hand down my face. "Look, it's what she wants, what I want." I looked at him in confusion at the last part. He said it with a double meaning, I knew him.

"What the hell does that mean Brock?"

"I've made a lot of mistakes in my life." I felt my guard go up at those words. I started walking faster into town. "Hear me out Reba." He said from behind me.

"I'm done hearing you out Brock. Keep your thoughts to yourself." I snapped.

"You can't tell me you don't feel it too Reba." He said grabbing my elbow to stop me like he has so many times in the past. "You can't stand here and honestly tell me you don't think we had a once in a lifetime thing." I felt my guard slipping as I desperately tried to hold onto it.

"We did. But you screwed that up Brock." I barked as I pulled my arm away, breaking all contact.

"You don't think anything can be fixed, that maybe what we had was strong enough to last through anything."

"And why should I?"

"Because I still love you. And I know you still love me."

"Look Brock, I'm not like a lot of other women. I'm not a rebound for you because your marriage failed." I snapped.

"I made a mistake. I've tried to pretend it wasn't a mistake for 7 years now Reba. I'm trying to fix my mistake." I closed my eyes and tried not to cry. "Look at everything we went through in our time together. I want to live that with you again. I want those dreams we dreamt all those years ago to be filled."

"What if I don't anymore?" I asked with my eyes closed.

"Then you'd be lying. Those dreams we had are like a tattoo. No matter what we do they're never going away."

**It sure left its mark on us**

**We sure left our mark on it**

**Let the world know we were here**

**With everything we did**

**Laid a lot of memories down**

Two years later I sat with a pretty redhead resting her head on my shoulder on her mamas front porch swing. After almost two months of convincing, Reba finally came around. Six months later we were married. Again.

"I love you." I said into her hair.

"Love you too." She said sleepily. I smiled.

Every mistake we've made, every good thing we've done. Every choice we've made, every word we've said has scarred us. It's made us who we are. It's brought us together and torn us apart.

"You're the only one I ever wanted to grow old with." I said into her hair. I could tell she cracked a smile at that.

"I tried to picture myself growing old with someone else, but it never worked. I'm stuck with you then." she said as she playfully elbowed me. I laughed.

"Well I'm glad. This is it. I've missed this."

"Me too. I love you Brock." She said looking up at me. I smiled as she stole a kiss.

"I've only ever really loved you." I said kissing her again. It was the sweetest thing to finally get to fall into. Life is sweet, and so is love.

**And we'll always be hangin' round**

**Like tattoos on this town**

**Like tattoos on this town**


End file.
